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1 Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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2 See the end of the file for license conditions.
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3
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4
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5 NOTES ON COPYRIGHTS AND LICENSES
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6
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7 Some terminology:
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8
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9 A "copyright notice" consists of one or a few lines of this format:
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10 "Copyright (C) 2006, 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc."
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11
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12 A "license notice" is a statement of permissions, and is usually much
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13 longer, eg the text "GNU Emacs is free software...".
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14
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15
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16 Every non-trivial file distributed through the Emacs CVS should be
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17 self-explanatory in terms of copyright and license. This includes
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18 files that are not distributed in Emacs releases (for example, the
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19 admin/ directory), because the whole Emacs CVS is publicly
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20 available.
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21
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22 The definition of triviality is a little vague, but a rule of thumb is
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23 that any file with less than 15 lines of actual content is trivial. If
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24 a file is auto-generated (eg ldefs-boot.el) from another one in the
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25 CVS, then it does not really matter about adding a copyright statement
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26 to the generated file.
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27
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28 However, here is a quote from Matt Norwood (Software Freedom Law
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29 Center) that suggests we should revise the above policy about trivial
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30 files:
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31
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32 If FSF has a strong policy reason notices off of files it
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33 considers "trivial", this will take a lot more bookkeeping; it
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34 also runs the risk of these "trivial" files later growing into
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35 non-trivial files, and being in the tree without any record of
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36 authorship. All in all, I think it's a better policy to attach the
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37 notice and let future authors decide if something is trivial when
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38 they want to reuse it elsewhere.
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39 [...]
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40 In general, copyright law will step back and look at the overall "work"
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41 consisting of all the assembled components working together as a system;
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42 it will apply protection and permissions to this system, not to its
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43 subcomponents. If parts of it are recombined into another system, it
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44 will consider the protections and permissions for each of the source
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45 components only in order to assess the overall status of the work again.
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46 The assessment of whether a set of components is entitled to copyright
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47 protection is the degree to which they display "creativity": not as
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48 atomic units, but as parts of a system working in concert. Thus, several
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49 "trivial" components working together in some coherent system might be
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50 protectible.
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51
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52 RMS feels, though, that in trivial files (eg etc/FTP), having a
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53 license notice looks odd. Matt Norwood has confirmed it is not
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54 _necessary_ to have licenses in such files, so we are sticking with
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55 the policy of no licenses in "trivial" files.
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56
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57 NB consequently, if you add a lot of text to a small file, consider
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58 whether your changes have made the file worthy of a copyright notice,
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59 and if so, please add one.
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60
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61 The years in the copyright notice should be updated every year (see
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62 file "years" in this directory). The PS versions of refcards etc
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63 should display copyright notices (an exception to the rule about
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64 "generated" files), but these can just display the latest year. The
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65 full list of years should be kept in comments in the source file. If
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66 these are distributed in CVS, check in a regenerated version when the
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67 tex files are updated.
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68
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69 Copyright changes should be propagated to any associated repositories
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70 (eg Gnus, MH-E), but I think in every case this happens automatically
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71 (?).
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72
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73 All README (and other such text files) that are non-trivial should
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74 contain copyright statements and GPL license notices, exactly as .el
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75 files do (see e.g. README in the top-level directory). Before 2007,
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76 we used a simple, short statement permitting copying and modification
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77 provided legal notices were retained. In Feb 2007 we switched to the
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78 standard GPL text, on legal advice. Some older text files in etc/
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79 should, however, keep their current licenses (see below for list).
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80
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81 For image files, the copyright and license details should be recorded
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82 in a README file in each directory with images. (Legal advice says
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83 that we need not add notices to each image file individually, if they
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84 allow for that.). It is recommended to use the word "convert" to
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85 describe the automatic process of changing an image from one format to
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86 another (http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2007-02/msg00618.html).
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87
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88
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89 When installing a file with an "unusual" license (after checking first
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90 it is ok), put a copy of the copyright and license in the file (if
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91 possible. It's ok if this makes the file incompatible with its
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92 original format, if it can still be used by Emacs), or in a README
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93 file in the relevant directory.
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94
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95 The vast majority of files are copyright FSF and distributed under the
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96 GPL. A few files (mainly related to language and charset support) are
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97 copyright AIST alone, or both AIST and FSF. (Contact Kenichi Handa
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98 with questions about legal issues in such files.) In all these cases,
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99 the copyright years in each file should be updated each year.
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100
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101 There are some exceptions to the points in the previous paragraph, and
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102 these are listed below for reference, together with any files where
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103 the copyright needs to be updated in "unusual" ways.
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104
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105 If you find any other such cases, please consult to check they are ok,
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106 and note them in this file. This includes missing copyright notices,
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107 and "odd" copyright holders. In most cases, individual authors should
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108 not appear in copyright statements. Either the copyright has been
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109 assigned (check copyright.list) to the FSF (in which case the original
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110 author should be removed and the year(s) transferred to the FSF); or
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111 else it is possible the file should not be in Emacs at all (please
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112 report!).
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113
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114 Note that it seems painfully clear that one cannot rely on CVS logs,
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115 or even ChangeLogs, for older changes. People often installed changes
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116 from others, without recording the true authorship.
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117
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118 [For reference, most of these points were established via email with
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119 rms, 2007/1, "Copyright years".]
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120
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121
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122 lib-src/etags.c # print_version
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123 lib-src/rcs2log # Copyright
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124 lisp/calc/calc-help.el # calc-full-help
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125 lisp/startup.el # fancy-splash-tail
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126 mac/Emacs.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/InfoPlist.strings
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127 mac/src/Emacs.r # resource 'vers'
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128 src/emacs.c
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129 - remember to change the latest copyright year in the --version output.
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130 [Post-release, will automate this like set-version does for version.]
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131
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132 <top-level>/install-sh
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133 lispintro/install-sh
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134 - this file is copyright MIT, which is OK. Leave the copyright alone.
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135
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136 admin/check-doc-strings
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137 src/m/news-r6.h
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138 public domain, leave alone.
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139
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140 etc/edt-user.doc
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141 - update BOTH notices in this file
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142
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143 etc/letter.pbm,letter.xpm
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144 - trivial, no notice needed.
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145 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2007-02/msg00324.html>
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146
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147 etc/FTP, ORDERS
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148 - trivial (at time of writing), no license needed
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149
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150 etc/GNU, INTERVIEW, LINUX-GNU, MOTIVATION, SERVICE, THE-GNU-PROJECT,
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151 WHY-FREE
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152 rms: "These are statements of opinion or testimony. Their licenses
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153 should permit verbatim copying only. Please don't change the
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154 licenses that they have. They are distributed with Emacs but they
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155 are not part of Emacs."
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156
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157 etc/MAILINGLISTS
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158 rms: simple license is fine for this file
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159
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160 etc/images/icons/*
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161 nt/icons/emacs21.ico
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162 src/gnu.h
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163 Note that Andrew Zhilin has a copyright assignment on file (confirmed
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164 by fsf-records), even though it doesn't seem to show up in
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165 copyright.list for some reason (at time of writing, 2007/02).
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166 http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2005-11/msg00349.html
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167
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168 leim/CXTERM-DIC/4Corner.tit, ARRAY30.tit, CCDOSPY.tit, ECDICT.tit,
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169 ETZY.tit, PY-b5.tit, Punct-b5.tit, Punct.tit, QJ-b5.tit, QJ.tit,
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170 SW.tit, TONEPY.tit, ZOZY.tit
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171 - leave the copyrights alone.
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172
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173 leim/MISC-DIC/CTLau-b5.html, CTLau.html, cangjie-table.b5, cangjie-table.cns,
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174 pinyin.map, ziranma.cin
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175 - leave the copyright alone.
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176
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177 leim/SKK-DIC/SKK-JISYO.L
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178 ja-dic/ja-dic.el
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179 (the latter is auto-generated from the former). Leave the copyright alone.
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180
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181 lib-src/etags.c
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182 - this has a copyright Ken Arnold. We are still deciding what should
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183 be done here (see below).
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184
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185 lib-src/getopt1.c, getopt_int.h
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186 - these are from the GNU C library. Leave the copyrights alone.
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187
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188 lisp/play/tetris.el
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189 - no special rules about the copyright. We note here that we believe
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190 (2007/1) there is no problem with our use of the name "tetris" or
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191 the concept.
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192 rms: "My understanding is that game rules as such are not copyrightable."
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193 <http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2007-01/msg00960.html>
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194
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195 lispref/doclicense.texi
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196 man/doclicense.texi
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197 - leave the copyright alone in this imported file.
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198
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199 lisp/net/tramp.el
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200 - there are also copyrights in the body of the file. Update these too.
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201
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202 msdos/is_exec.c, sigaction.c
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203 - these files are copyright DJ Delorie. Leave the copyrights alone.
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204 Leave the Eli Zaretskii copyright in is_exec.c alone. See the
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205 msdos/README file for the legal history of these files.
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206
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207 src/gmalloc.c
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208 - contains numerous copyrights from the GNU C library. Leave them alone.
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209
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210 src/acldef.h, chpdef.h, ndir.h
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211 - see comments below. These files are OK to be released with Emacs
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212 22, but we may want to revisit them afterwards.
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213
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214 [src/unexhp9k800.c - removed 2007/1/27]
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215 [src/m/sr2k.h - removed 2007/1/27]
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216 - First file removed due to legal uncertainties; second file removed
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217 due to dependency on first. Note that src/m/hp800.h is still needed on
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218 hp800 arch.
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219 NB we would like to re-add this file if we can. Please let us know
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220 if you can clarify its legal status.
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221
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222
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223 ** Some notes on resolved issues, for historical information only
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224
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225 lisp/term/README
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226 - had no copyright notice till Feb 2007. ChangeLog.3 suggests it was
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227 written by Eric Raymond. When asked by rms on 14 Feb 2007 he said:
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228
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229 I don't remember writing it, but it reads like my prose and I believe
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230 I wrote the feature(s) it's describing. So I would have been the
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231 likeliest person to write it.
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232
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233 Odds are that I did, but I'm not certain.
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234
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235 Accordingly, FSF copyright was added.
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236
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237
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238 ** Issues that are "fixed" for the release of Emacs 22, but we may
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239 wish to revisit later in more detail
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240
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241
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242 src/acldef.h, chpdef.h, ndir.h
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243 On legal advice from Matt Norwood, the following comment was added
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244 to these files in Feb 2007:
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245
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246 The code here is forced by the interface, and is not subject to
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247 copyright, constituting the only possible expression of the
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248 algorithm in this format.
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249
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250 With the addition of this notice, these files are OK for the
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251 upcoming Emacs-22 release. Post-release, we can revisit this issue
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252 and possibly add a list of all authors who have changed these files.
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253 (details in email from Matt Norwood to rms, 2007/02/03).
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254
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255
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256 src/m/mips4.h, news-risc.h, pmax.h
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257 src/s/aix3-2.h, bsd386.h, hpux8.h, hpux9.h, irix4-0.h, irix5-0.h,
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258 isc2-2.h, netbsd.h, osf1.h, sol2-3.h, sunos4-0.h, usg5-4-2.h
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259 - all these (not obviously trivial) files were missing copyrights
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260 till Feb 2007, when FSF copyright was added. Matt Norwood advised:
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261
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262 For now, I think the best policy is to assume that we do have
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263 assignments from the authors (I recall many of these header files
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264 as having been originally written by rms), and to attach an FSF
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265 copyright with GPL notice. We can amend this if and when we
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266 complete the code audit. Any additions to these files by
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267 non-assigned authors are arguably "de minimis" contributions to
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268 Emacs: small changes or suggestions to a work that are subsumed in
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269 the main authors' copyright in the entire work.
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270
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271 Here is my (rgm) take on the details of the above files:
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272
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273 mips4.h
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274 might be trivial? started trivial, been added to in tiny changes by
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275 those with FSF assignment, often result of email suggestions by others.
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276
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277 news-risc.h
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278 started trivial. Grown by tiny additions, plus chunk
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279 from mips.h, which was and is Copyright FSF
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280
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281 pmax.h
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282 started trivial. grown in tiny changes, except for maybe Jim Wilson's
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283 comment.
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284
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285 ? irix4-0.h
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286 I would say started non-trivial (1992, rms). only tiny changes since
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287 installed.
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288
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289 ? irix5-0.h
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290 I would say started non-trivial (1993, jimb, heavily based
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291 on irix4-0.h). A few borderline non-tiny changes since.
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292
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293 ? isc2-2.h
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294 started trivial. 2 non-tiny change, in 1993. looks to
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295 be made up of several small tweaks from various sources. maybe
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296 non-tiny total changes from Karl Berry (no emacs assignment).
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297
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298 osf1.h
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299 started trivial. grown in tiny changes (one borderline tiny change
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300 by fx in 2000, but most code was later removed). non-tiny addition
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301 in 2002 from m/alpha.h, but that was and is copyright FSF.
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302
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303 usg5-4-2.h
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304 started non-trivial, but was heavily based on usg5-4.h, which was and is
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305 copyright FSF. only tiny changes since installed.
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306
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307 sol2-3.h
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308 started trivial. only non-tiny change (1994) incorporated code from
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309 usg5-4.h, which was and is copyright FSF.
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310
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311 aix3-2.h, bsd386.h, hpux8.h, hpux9.h, netbsd.h, sunos4-0.h
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312 started trivial, grown in tiny changes.
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313
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314
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315 Someone might want to tweak the copyright years (for dates before
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316 2001) that I used in all these files.
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317
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318 Note: erring on the side of caution, I also added notices to some
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319 files I thought might be considered non-trivial (if one includes
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320 comment) in s/:
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321 aix4-1.h hiuxmpp.h hiuxwe2.h hpux10.h irix6-0.h irix6-5.h isc3-0.h
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322 ptx4.h sol2.h sunos4-0.h
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323
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324 (everything with > 30 non-blank lines, which at least is _some_ kind of
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325 system)
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326
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327
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328 *** These are copyright issues that need not be fixed until after
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329 Emacs 22 is released (though if they can be fixed before, that is
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330 obviously good):
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331
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332
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333 Is it OK to just `cvs remove' a file for legal reasons, or is
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334 something more drastic needed? A removed file is still available from
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335 CVS, if suitable options are applied. (This CVS issue obviously does
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336 not affect a release).
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337 rms: will ask lawyer
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338
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339
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340 Make sure that all files with non-standard copyrights or licenses are
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341 noted in this file.
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342
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343
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344 etc/BABYL
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345 File says it was written in 1983 by Eugene Ciccarelli, who has no
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346 assignment. RMS: "The lawyer said we can keep BABYL."
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347
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348
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349 REMOVED etc/orgcard.tex, orgcard.ps
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350 Re-add these files if an assignment is received from Rooke.
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351
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352
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353 etc/images
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354 Image files from GTK, Gnome are under GPLv2 (no "or later"?). RMS will
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355 contact image authors in regards to future switch to v3.
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356
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357
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358 REMOVED src/unexhp9k800.c
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359 - we would like to re-add this file if possible. Please let us know
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360 if you can clarify its legal status.
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361 http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2007-02/msg00138.html
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362
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363
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364 *** These are copyright issues still to be addressed:
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365
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366 NB apart from switching the TUTORIALs to GPL, I think there is nothing
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367 here that anyone can work on without further input from rms.
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368
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369
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370 Maybe some relevant comments here?
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371 <http://groups.google.com/group/linux.debian.legal/browse_thread/thread/123547ea95437a1f>
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372
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373
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374 etc/gnus-logo.eps, gnus-booklet.ps, gnus-refcard.ps
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375 just to be safe, papers are on the way for the "Gnus logo", even
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376 though it is very similar to the already-assigned "Emacs logo".
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377
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378
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379 etc/emacs.csh
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380 does rms want simple license restored for this?
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381
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382
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383 etc/ms-kermit - no copyright, but ms-7bkermit has one
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384 etc/e/eterm-color.ti - no copyright
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385 rms: "I think that is not copyrightable under the merger doctrine
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386 because the entries are all forced. At least that is the case in the
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387 US; I am not sure whether we can rely on that in general."
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388
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389
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390 etc/TUTORIAL.eo
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391 - remove non-FSF copyright, merge years into FSF, add 2007.
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392
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393
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394 etc/TUTORIAL* (translations)
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395 switch to GPL (see english TUTORIAL)
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396 rms: "We can leave the TUTORIAL translations alone until their
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397 maintainers update them."
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398
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399
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400 lib-src/etags.c - no 'k.* arnold' in copyright.list'
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401 rms: "That is ok, in principle. I used free code released by Ken
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402 Arnold as the starting point. However, it may be that we need to get
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403 and insert whatever his license was for his code."
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404
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405 under GPL, so OK?
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406
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407 - 1984 version of ctags, with no copyright, posted to net.sources:
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408 http://groups.google.com/group/net.sources/msg/a21b6c21be12a98d
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409
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410
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411 lwlib/lwlib-Xaw.c
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412 copyright Chuck Thompson; but under GPL, so OK?
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413
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414 lwlib/lwlib-Xlw.c, lwlib-Xm.c, lwlib-Xm.h, xlwmenu.c
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415 copyright lucid and FSF, but under GPL, so OK?
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416 FSF copyrights were added in 200x, was that right?
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417
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418 lwlib/lwlib-int.h, lwlib.h, lwlib-Xaw.h, lwlib-Xlw.h, lwlib-utils.h
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419 no copyright. last three trivial?
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420 suspect these must have been part of the "Lucid Widget Library",
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421 which is under GPL. Can't find an original version of this to check.
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422
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423 lwlib/Makefile.in
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424 "some parts" copyright Lucid, no license
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425
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426 lwlib/lwlib-utils.c, lwlib.c
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427 copyright Lucid, Inc; but under GPL, so OK?
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428
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429 lwlib/xlwmenu.h, xlwmenuP.h
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430 part of 'Lucid Widget Library', but only FSF copyright (when files
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431 were first checked into RCS, there were no copyrights). Was it right
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432 to add FSF copyright?
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433 should we add a 1992 Lucid copyright?
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434
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435 lwlib/*
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436 should we:
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437 1) ensure all files that were originally in the "Lucid Widget
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438 Library" have 1992 Lucid copyright?
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439 2) add or remove FSF copyrights to any files we have made non-trivial
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440 changes to since 1992?
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75465
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441
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442
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443 oldXMenu/
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444 - should there be any FSF copyrights at all in here? Some were added
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445 in 2005, without licence notices. Was this right?
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75911
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446 Eg don't think copyright.h should have FSF copyright!
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447 Should add copyright details for X11R1 to the README file. (see
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448 copyright.h). I suggest we remove copyright.h and add the notices
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449 directly into the files.
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450
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451
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452 The general issue is, as with some of the Lucid code in lwlib, suppose
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453 file foo.c is Copyright (C) 2000 John Smith, and released under the
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454 GPL. We check it into Emacs CVS and make non-trivial changes to it.
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455 Should we add a FSF copyright or not? Can we add such a notice as soon
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456 as we check it check it in to CVS?
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457
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458
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75465
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459 oldXMenu/Makefile.in, Makefile, Imakefile, descrip.mms, insque.c
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460 - issues described in mail to rms, 2006/12/17.
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461 rms: "I have asked for lawyer's advice about these."
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462
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75776
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463
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464 This file is part of GNU Emacs.
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465
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466 GNU Emacs is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
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467 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
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468 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
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469 any later version.
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470
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471 GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
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472 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
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473 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
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474 GNU General Public License for more details.
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475
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476 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
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477 along with GNU Emacs; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the
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478 Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
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479 Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
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